Tactics and Tips for Helping Dental Employees Meet Expectations

In addition to being responsible for managing your direct reports to meet the business’s goals, you also care about them as individuals. Because you care, managing employees to meet expectations does not need to become a difficult conversation. You can do so professionally, while still maintaining a level of sensitivity that acknowledges the employee’s needs. The following three tactics can help you start the conversation.

1. Introduce self-assessment

A best practice is to employ self-assessment early in the supervisor-employee relationship. Ask employees to critique their own work regularly and encourage them to suggest areas for improvement. At the start of their employment, this may be daily, then weekly, monthly, eventually growing to six-month reviews. Based on their critiques, you can provide a continuous stream of feedback and assist them by establishing their next goal(s) and strategies.

2. Show genuine concern

Expressing concern for your employees shows you care. Receiving your feedback offers them a lifeline to help with any work-related or personal issues that are affecting their ability to perform. For example, you might say, “I’ve noticed you’ve been late for work a lot and missing the beginning of our morning team huddles. The team can’t help but notice and worry about you. It’s distracting and taking time away from our patients. Is there something I can do to help you resolve this as soon as possible?”

3. Help them

Sometimes, employees are unsure what their “best” should look like. Here’s an example — a new hygienist appears impatient with the front desk during handoffs, and patients notice. The hygienist is feeling unappreciated, and you’ve been pushing for quicker turnarounds to meet the needs of more patients. Realizing the accelerated-pace expectation is a significant part of the problem, you communicate your concerns to the hygienist by facilitating a team meeting to clear the air, develop understanding, and reset expectations. Once you have everyone’s buy-in for a reset, you can coach them by role-playing handoffs in varying situations. Helping your team understand the demands on each other and promoting more flexibility makes a substantial difference, even if that means sacrificing a minute or two of acceleration.

Be a change manager 

With the right training and sensitive coaching, employees will rise to your expectations and be able to do what you’re asking of them. It’s ideal to establish a cycle of setting clear expectations, observing performance, and giving feedback from the very beginning of employment. It may take some work on your part if you aren’t doing this now. But you are not helping anyone by delaying what needs to be done.

What if much of their work acceptable, but they are underperforming in some areas?

Nobody is perfect, of course, but that doesn’t mean your employees can’t improve and progress in their position. In addition to the tips above, here is a “cheat sheet” of Do’s and Don’ts:

Do:

• Be curious about what employees think is expected of them and how they perceive they are doing.
• Be clear about what they are doing well.
• Be clear about what they are failing to do and the impact of that on the practice. 
• Be clear about specific goals.
• Ask what you can do to support them.
• Collaborate on a plan of feedback, training, or coaching, and schedule a next time to revisit their performance. Give them the software and other tools they need.
• If it becomes clear that, after establishing a cycle of feedback, coaching, and monitoring, they will not be capable of meeting one or some expectations, consider how to better use the strengths they do have to increase their contributions to overall productivity. Don’t be strictly tied to the job description they were hired under as you will lose a valuable human resource making significant contributions.

Don’t:

• Don’t compare them to other employees or micromanage them. These behaviors negate internal motivation. 
• Don’t be vague about what they fail to do because this leaves room for assumptions. 
• Don’t leave it up to them to decide what to change. Help them brainstorm solutions and next steps.
• Don’t become lax about following up on their performance.

Have you tried your best, but the needed change has not happened? 

When confronted with an employee who simply can’t or won’t do what you need them to do, it’s time to help them make a change by moving on.

Management experts recommend saying something like, “We’ve been reviewing your performance for some time now, and despite taking measures to make sure you know what is expected and giving you support, you are still underperforming. Ultimately, I don’t think this is the right fit for you. I think you will be happier elsewhere. How do you want to handle this? Do you want to resign, or should we let you go?”

Do:

• Consider what you will be willing to do to help them secure their next position and if you can allow them to continue working for you while they find their next job.
• Depending on your relationship, consider giving them career advice for finding a position that’s a better fit for them.

Don’t:

• Don’t give them a list of performance goals or allow them to engage you in defensive conversation. You are beyond allowing them to stay.

Confirm employee understanding 

When you need to set firm expectations or let an employee go, it’s emotional, especially for the employee. Ensure they can articulate an understanding of what they should do next and how you can support them. A written document that outlines expectations, an improvement plan, or, if appropriate, terms of severance should put everything into focus. 

When helping an employee become the best version of themselves, you might say something like this, “If it is alright with you, I would like to talk to you again about this tomorrow to make sure we develop a common understanding of what is expected of you in the areas for improvement and to talk about your ideas for how to do this. This paper documents today’s feedback. I hope you understand that I care about your happiness and want to be of assistance.”

When you have a second conversation, ask, “After thinking about our talk yesterday, what thoughts have you had about moving forward? What would you like to set as a first goal? In what way can I support you?” 

Asking the employee for their thoughts delivers the message that it is their responsibility to act. If you spend time brainstorming and helping the employee create a plan of action, you demonstrate you are willing to invest in their success. It signals interest, respect, and a commitment to follow through.